25,000 prisoners missed right to vote, state hopeful in 2011

Santanu Saraswati

Kolkata, May 8—It could have been another silent revolution in the electoral history of the country, but turned out to be a story of unfulfilled dreams—be it for the 25,000 under trial prisoners languishing in state correctional homes, or for the state government.

This time too, it remained as the gap between the cup and the lips. The 25,000 under trial prisoners, who are waiting for judgement of their fate, failed to vote for respective political parties, when the entire nation voted for the formation of the government at the centre, even after the government tried a lot through bringing in revisions in Section 62 (5) of the Representation of the People Act 1951 that strictly prohibit person from voting at any elections if confined in a prison—whether under a sentence of imprisonment or transportation or otherwise, or is in the lawful custody of the police—subjected to preventive detention under any law for the time being in force.

“Our reasoning was very simple. If a person can contest elections from behind the bars, or even on bail as under trial, then why can’t people living behind the four walls of correctional homes vote? People having financial strength can get bail by engaging lawyers, but what about the poor? Why poor shouldn’t get that facility from the constitution?” asked the additional director general of police and inspector general of police, state correctional home services, B D Sharma.

Sharma already had the credit of organising dance dramas and cultural shows of the prisoners living inside the state jails, out of the four boundaries of high walls of state prisons. “Laws are sometimes very confusing for common people. When Section 62 (5) of the Representation of the People Act 1951 clearly prohibits under trials from casting their votes, the Section 79 (3) of the West Bengal Correctional Services Act 1992 provides that every prisoner, subject to the provisions of any law for the time being in force, have the right to vote in the elections to state legislature or parliament or to any local authority,” the IG-correctional home services added.

The Act, according to him, is not only a denial of the constitutional right of a citizen, at the same time conceptual mistake of the perception of correctional home. The figures of such unfortunate people at the national level would be more than five lakhs if the total prison population of the country and the number of people in lawful custody of police were taken together. “This results in denial of this sacred right to exercise franchise to such large number of people, almost 75 per cent of them are under trials, who are technically not even guilty as the outcome of the trial or investigations,” Sharma said.

The objectives of the imprisonment are correctional, formation and rehabilitation of the persons convicted of offences and allowing exercise of franchise will only help in imparting sense of dignity to the prisoners.

Recently, the IG-correctional home services has written to the Election Commission, National Human Rights Commission as well as to the Union Home Ministry, citing the examples of countries in Europe and Bangladesh where prisoners have their right to vote. However, a little hope has brightened this process as the Election Commission has promised to take this issue into consideration. “The Election Commission is looking into this issue with proper importance so that from 2011, at least under trials could exercise their franchise,” state chief electoral officer, Debashis Sen, told Hindustan Times.
EOM
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